Known revolvers employ a rotatable cylinder to selectively position one of a plurality of rounds of ammunition in opposition to the firing bore of the revolver. The cylinder is typically housed within a frame of the revolver for selective movement in or out of the frame during a loading or unloading operation.
FIG. 1 illustrates one example of a known revolver 10. As shown in FIG. 1, the revolver 10 includes a frame 12, a barrel 14, an ejector rod assembly 18 and a cylinder 20 having a plurality of longitudinal bores 22 which are adapted to selectively position, in sequence, rounds of ammunition (not shown) in opposition to the firing bore of the barrel 14.
A yoke stud 24 (shown in phantom) is integrally mated to the frame 12 and provides an axis of rotation to selectively pivot both the yoke 16 and the cylinder 20 from its open position, shown in FIG. 1, to its closed position. A spring biased ball plunger 28 is integrally mated to the yoke 16 and communicates with a ball cavity 30 (shown in phantom) formed in the body of the frame 12.
While successful to a certain degree, the interaction between the spring biased ball plunger 28 and the ball cavity 30 may experience sporadic, operational complications during, and immediately following, the discharge of a round of ammunition. When a round is discharged, the forces which propel the round down the length of the barrel 14 exert a corresponding force in the opposite direction, that is, towards the rear, handgrip portion of the revolver 10. Although the effect of this opposite force is marginal on the interconnected elements of the revolver 10, the manufacturing tolerances inherent in the revolver 10 permit a minute amount of structural translation to occur as a result of this incident and opposite discharge force.
The effect of the structural translation of certain elements in the revolver 10, as a result of the discharge of a round of ammunition and the associated manufacturing tolerances of the revolver 10, may cause the cylinder and yoke assembly, 20/16, to move slightly rearwardly, towards the handgrip portion of the revolver 10. Referring again to FIG. 1, it can be seen that the rearward movement of the yoke 16 may cause the spring biased ball plunger 28 to disengage from the ball cavity 30, thus facilitating the unintended pivoting of the cylinder 20 from its closed position, to the open position shown in FIG. 1. The possibility of the disengagement of the spring biased ball plunger 28 from the ball cavity 30 may increase in proportion to the age of the revolver 10, owing to the increasing age and reduced resilience of the biasing spring, or the like, which serves to bias the ball plunger 28 into contact with the restraining ball cavity 30.
It is therefore the general object of the present invention to provide a cylinder retaining mechanism which advantageously utilizes the recoil forces generated by a firearm during discharge.